freddy333 Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Sad news indeed. The bright spot is that, for years, I have heard that most of the (seemingly) anti-customer policies employed by the US arm of Rolex over the past 20 years were due to Brill. If that is true, perhaps his replacement will loosen things up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Sad news indeed. The bright spot is that, for years, I have heard that most of the (seemingly) anti-customer policies employed by the US arm of Rolex over the past 20 years were due to Brill. If that is true, perhaps his replacement will loosen things up a bit. Always sad when anyone passes. As to the customer relations, I don't think we will ever go back to the days like the 1980's that you described in another post, where you could walk into and AD and purchase parts, bracelets. etc. over the counter. But it would be nice to have leadership that treats customers as valuable assets, rather than like they were coming in to rob the store! Another thing that needs to be addressed is the problem that quite a lot of watchmakers are having maintaining a parts account. I'm all for watchmakers having continuing education requirements to keep up their skills,especially on new watches coming out. But it seems as though Rolex NA's taking a rather Draconian approach to the situation. Do they really think a guy like Bob Ridley needs to go sit in a class for hours and days being taught by an instructor from the "mother ship" . Especially since watchmakers like Bob have probably forgotten more about vintage Rolex watches than this instructor will ever know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted December 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Everything you cited stems from Rolex USA's (under Brill's leadership) overriding desire to keep gen parts out of the hands of franken-builders & rep factories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 BTW, that is not only a US thing. We have the same difficulties over here in Europe and most probably you will only get parts if you know your AD very well and he wants to do you a favour for all the grands you spent in his store... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 even if these policies were put into place by Brill, why would they make any major changes to the system? Rolex has been pretty darn successful so I dont see them changing the way things work. Plus if you could walk into an AD and buy a new 9315 NOS bracelet and a new "paul newman" dial for your Daytona, it would kill the vintage parts market and high pricing.... and yes also contribute to franken building. There would be a HUGE increase in the amount of frankens out there for sale. Anyone could get a yuki 1680, throw in a gen NOS dial on the ETA movement, add a bezel insert and 93150 bracelet and throw it on ebay for $5500. Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted December 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 even if these policies were put into place by Brill, why would they make any major changes to the system? Rolex has been pretty darn successful so I dont see them changing the way things work. For years, Rolex US has been receiving complaints about its poor customer service, to which it has turned a deaf ear. But if Brill's replacement came from a position that dealt more closely with customers than invoices, things might change. Of course, I would not hold my breath for this to happen, but, with a change in leadership, it is always a possibility. Plus if you could walk into an AD and buy a new 9315 NOS bracelet and a new "paul newman" dial for your Daytona, it would kill the vintage parts market and high pricing.... I can virtually guarantee that you will never see Rolex making Newman dials, big logo riveted bracelets or anything of that vintage available either over-the-counter or during service. If any NOS stock remains, & that is a BIG if, it is reserved for the most exclusive of VIP clients & would only be fitted in-house, never sent out or sold. No way, no how. The only possible scenario I can imagine (in my wildest dreams) is that, as was the case with the Prince (which has not sold well) & Milgauss, Rolex introduces a new version of the Daytona with a Newman-like dial & makes the dial available for sale through a new vintage service center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Freddy, I would bet that even if by some chance Rolex instituted a reintroduction of vintage watches, they would be bigger or changed in some way that new parts wouldn't be interchangable with the older watches.Only Rolex Experts and WIS are going to notice a change of .5-1.0 mm. I seriously doubt whether doing something like this would be economically feasible, as the market would probably be fairly limited. This is all just sheer speculation on my part, aas i have absolutely no facts or marketing info to back it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted December 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 I would bet that even if by some chance Rolex instituted a reintroduction of vintage watches, they would be bigger or changed in some way that new parts wouldn't be interchangable with the older watches. That goes without saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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